City of New Orleans, Walmart Announce Grand Opening of Gentilly Walmart

August 14, 2014

New Orleans, LA, Aug. 13, 2014 – A new Walmart opened Wednesday, Aug. 13, following a brief ribbon-cutting ceremony at 7 a.m. The new store is conveniently located at 4301 Chef Menteur Highway and is open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week. The store will provide Gentilly residents with low prices on a broad assortment of merchandise and offer Walmart's free Site to Store program, enabling customers to choose from nearly a million additional online items that can be ordered on Walmart.com and picked up at the Gentilly store for free, often as quickly as the same day.

The new store employs approximately 300 full- and part-time associates. Store manager Robert Richardson began his Walmart career in 1997 as a manager trainee.

“This store is going to bring not only a new shopping option, but many jobs to this community,” said Richardson. “We are proud of our new store and look forward to the community joining us on grand-opening day.”

Affordable Groceries to Meet All Your Needs

The new store offers fresh produce and a full line of groceries from all the leading brand names, including organic and natural selections. There is also a wide variety of meat and bakery selections, including fresh baked breads and desserts.

The Gentilly store also offers a full liquor selection including beer, wine and spirits.

In addition to groceries, the store features quality, value-priced general merchandise, including electronics and back-to-school supplies. In addition, customers can shop a broader assortment of items online at Walmart.com and then pay for these purchases with cash in all of Walmart U.S. stores and Walmart Neighborhood Markets, including the new Gentilly store.

The pharmacy offers a full range of products and services. Pharmacy team members can answer product and prescription questions and customers can ask about health and wellness solutions. Gentilly residents can easily transfer prescriptions and order refills on the go with the Walmart mobile app for iPhone and Android.

“The Gentilly Walmart is another step in rebuilding our city and restoring quality services in our neighborhoods,” said Mayor Mitch Landrieu. “This store will create approximately 250 new jobs and provide an opportunity for our residents to shop and work where they live. We are committed to bringing our city back better than before."

“NORA has worked tirelessly for the past several years with the community to redevelop the abandoned Gentilly Woods Mall,” said New Orleans Redevelopment Executive Director Jeff Hebert. "We acquired the vacant site in 2009 to help spark the rebuilding of Gentilly. This site would likely still be vacant if Walmart hadn’t decided to invest in Gentilly.”

“My constituents in District D are very excited about the grand opening of the new Walmart,” said District D Councilmember Jared Brossett. “This Walmart offers our neighborhood the necessities and convenience needed in our community. The residents in Gentilly deserve increased access to fresh food, pharmacy services and good paying jobs – this Walmart will provide all of those things.”

“The state is proud to have partnered with NORA to approve the use of $4.5 million in disaster recovery funding from Hurricane Katrina to purchase this site, because we wanted to see it move from a blighted area to one of commerce,” said Pat Forbes, Louisiana Office of Community Development Executive Director. “With the opening of this Walmart, that objective has been achieved and the residents of the Gentilly Woods and Pontchartrain Park neighborhoods have access to new job opportunities, fresh food and other affordably priced items.”

Community Giving

A special media sneak peek the evening prior to the grand-opening celebration included presentations of $6,000 in grants from Walmart to local community groups. Bethe Colony Transformation Ministries, Bountiful Blessings, Gentilly Terrace Charter School, Holy Cross School, Hope Community Resource Center and Second Harvest Food Bank each received $1,000.

In addition to the grants given as part of the grand opening, the new store will further Walmart’s pledge to fight hunger in America. As part of Walmart’s and the Walmart Foundation’s $2 billion commitment to fight hunger through 2015, Walmart stores in Louisiana donated approximately 12.9 million pounds of food, in fiscal year 2014, or the equivalent of 10.7 million meals. Additionally, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation gave more than $24.1 million in fiscal year 2014 in Louisiana alone. For more information on Walmart’s fight against hunger, visit http://foundation.walmart.com/our-focus/hunger.

A Big Family Welcome

Walmart is happy to be part of the Gentilly community and is ready to celebrate with residents on Saturday, Aug. 16. A Big Family Welcome will give customers a chance to meet Richardson and enjoy fun family activities and free food samples while supplies last. Join the celebration from noon to 3 p.m.